Main Theme: This week begins with the powerful witness of John the Baptist. Other witnesses come on the stage as well: Andrew and Simon Peter, Philip and Nathanael, and a most unexpected witness, the Pharisee Nicodemus. But another witness stands back in the shadows (that other disciple with Andrew, in John 1:35; John 1:40)—John himself.
Read in Class: John 1:19-23. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.
Study: How did John the Baptist explain his ministry and mission?
Apply: In what way should we, as Seventh-day Adventists, do the same kind of ministry as did John the Baptist? What are the parallels?
Share: Your friend asks you how John the Baptist knew Jesus was the Messiah? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: John 1:29-39. Ask the class the define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What proclamation does John the Baptist make about Jesus? What image does he use to depict Him, and why is it so significant in understanding who Jesus was and what His mission would be? What did these two disciples do after hearing John’s witness about Jesus?
Apply: Read Mark 10:45, Romans 5:6, and 1 Peter 2:24. How do these verses help us understand the role of Jesus as “the Lamb of God”? Consider deeply Jesus’ title as “the Lamb of God.” What images does it bring to mind, and how does its linkage to the Old Testament sacrificial system help you appreciate the great price of our salvation?
Share: Your friend asks, you, “In what ways has Christ, and your faith in Christ, changed your life? What other changes would you still like to see happen?” What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: John 1:43-51. Have the class summarize this passage.
Study: What did Philip’s message reveal about his faith in Jesus already? How did Jesus convince Nathanael of who He was, and what was Nathanael’s response?
Apply: While we don’t hear much about or from Nathaniel other than this brief passage, Jesus spoke very highly of him. What does this tell you about how God regards those of us who live normal everyday lives?
Share: Your friend asks, what Nathaniel meant by “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: John 3:1-21. Ask the class the summarize this passage.
Study: How does the testimony of Nicodemus support the theme of the Gospel of John?
Apply: What did Jesus say to Nicodemus to show that He could see right through him?
Share: Your friend asks, “What does it mean to be “born again,” and why would Jesus put such emphasis on it?” What do you tell your friend?
In Genesis 2:16-17 ESV God says, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” We all know Adam and Eve did not die the day they ate of the forbidden fruit. Man has been trying to make excuses for God ever since.
Some say, well they began to die. However that is not what God said. He did not say you will begin to die the day you eat of the fruit. He said you will die in the day you eat of the fruit. Others say, they died spiritually that day. I don’t even know what the means! Sounds profound enough, I guess, but what does it mean? Besides, God did not say you will die spiritually the day you eat of the fruit. He said you will die – drop dead the day you eat of it. So what kept Adam and Eve from dropping dead the day they ate of the fruit?
Instead of trying to make up weak excuses for God, let’s let God’s Word explain itself. He does not need any help from us to get out of this jam. We find the answer at the other end of the Bible. Revelation 13:8 tells us Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. There is our answer! God did not need us bailing Him out by making up our own theories about beginning to die or dying spiritually that day. Revelation 13:8 lets us know that Jesus’ death on the cross had already taken effect. God calls things that are not yet, as though they already were. Just like I can cut and paste, just as I am writing this post in Microsoft Word, God can cut and paste through time and eternity and put the cross at the foundation of the world.
Jesus is truly the Savior of the whole world, as His sacrifice sustains not only the believer but the unbeliever as well. Adam and Eve were not believers; they were running from God. But they still had their breath that day because of the cross of Christ and the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God told Abraham in Genesis 12:3, “and in thee [Abraham’s Seed which was Christ] shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Notice God said all families will be “blessed,” or benefit from the cross. That includes Christians, Jews, Muslims, and atheists. They all benefit the same way Adam and Eve did.
The reason Adam and Eve did not drop dead the same day they ate the fruit was because Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and His death had already taken effect. The reason we do not drop dead the same day we sin, is because of the cross of Christ as well.
Believer and unbeliever benefit from the cross. This is what John was talking about in 1 John 2:2 ESV. He writes, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” John was writing to believers when he said “not for ours only,” the believers, but the whole world! An inspired writer, 1,800 years after John, echoes the same sentiments.
“To the death of Christ we owe even this earthly life. The bread we eat is the purchase of His broken body. The water we drink is bought by His spilled blood. Never one, saint or sinner, eats his daily food, but he is nourished by the body and the blood of Christ. The cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf.” – Ellen White, Desire of Ages, page 660.
Every breath we breathe is brought to us courtesy of the cross. People curse God with the very breath that He died to give them!
This idea of Jesus beginning our redemption even at creation runs all through the Bible.
Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” 9Matthew 25:34 ESV)
… even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love. (Ephesians 1:4 ESV)
in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began (Titus 1:2)
Yes! Jesus created the tree He knew would be used to make the old rugged cross. Even at creation He was beginning our redemption. He died to give us probationary time. Not a probationary time to see if God will accept us – He already has accepted us from the foundation of the world – but time to see if we will accept Jesus and His life-changing love.
If we choose to accept His love, Jesus tells us in John 11:26 ESV, “everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?.” Sure, we may fall asleep like Lazarus did, but God will not abandon us in the grave. We will not experience the death and God abandonment that Jesus experienced for us on the cross when He cried out, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!”
The cross echoes throughout time and space from every corner of eternity, telling us God is love! The Gospel begins at creation.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School Lesson here.
Main Theme: This week’s lesson will begin with the Prologue (John 1:1-18) and summarize its major themes. These themes will then be looked at in other places in John’s Gospel, as well.
Read in Class:John 1:1-5, 14. Ask Class to define the main point of these passages.
Study: What are these verses telling us that Jesus, God Himself, did—and why is this truth the most important truth that we could ever know?
Apply: Why is the full deity of Christ such an important part of our theology? What would we lose if Jesus were, in any way, a mere created being?
Share: Your friend says, If Jesus knew Lucifer was going to sin, and cause Him to have to die on the cross, why did He even bother creating Him? Jesus should have only created people who would use their free choice to obey Him. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:John 1:9-13. Have the class define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What harsh reality is John depicting here about how people respond to Jesus?
Apply: In what ways might we, even those of us in the church reject Jesus today? How do we make sure we are not rejecting Him?
Share: Your friend asks you How has your life changed by becoming a son or a daughter of God? What do you tell your friend?
Study: How do these texts repeat the theme of belief/unbelief found in the prologue?
Apply: In what ways do you live out your faith in Jesus, as opposed to merely holding an intellectual assent to Him as the Messiah? Why it is important to know the difference?
Share: Your friend asks, why Isaiah says that God blinded peoples eyes and hardened their hearts? What do you tell your friend? See Matthew 7:21-23.
Read in Class: John 17:1-5. Ask the class to define the main point of this passage.
Study: What did Jesus mean when He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (ESV)?
Apply: Think about what it means that it took such a drastic thing, God Himself on the cross, to save us from sin. What should this tell us about just how bad sin really is?
Share: How can you use your influence to help those around you believe in Jesus as the Messiah and Savior of the world?
Main Theme: This week’s lesson looks at three of the greatest signs of Jesus’ divinity. What is striking is that, in every case, some people did not believe the miracle or perceive its significance. For some, it was a time of turning away from Jesus; for others, a time for deepening blindness; and for others, a time to plot Jesus’ death. And for others—a time to believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
Read in Class: John 6:1-14. Ask the class the summarize this passage.
Study: What parallels can be found here between Jesus and Moses? That is, what did Jesus do here that should have reminded the people of the deliverance that their ancestors had received through the ministry of Moses?
Apply: Read Isaiah 53:4-6 and 1 Peter 2:24. What great truth do these texts teach about Jesus as the Lamb of God? How does His divinity tie into this truth, and why is this truth the most important truth we can ever know?
Share: Your friend asks, you how God has provided for you in a way that helped you see His miraculous power? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:John 6:26-36. Ask Class to summarize this passage.
Study: How did the people respond to Jesus’ miracle of feeding the multitude, and how did Jesus use this to try to teach them who He was?
Apply: How can we avoid getting caught up in material things at the expense of the spiritual?
Share: Your friend from church complains that some people only come to church when there is fellowship lunch and they don’t even bring anything. All some people come to church for is the socials and food. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: John 19:1-16. Ask clas to summarize this passage.
Study: What did the disciples think was the cause of this man’s blindness, and how did Jesus correct their false beliefs?
Apply: What should this story tell us about the dangers of being so blinded by our own beliefs and traditions that we can miss important truths right before our own eyes?
Share: Your friend says there seems to a lot of division in our world today. How can we tell if someone is a good person or not when we keep hearing rumors all the time? How do we know what to believe about people? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: John 11:38-44. Ask the class to define the main point of this passage.
Study: What did Jesus do that supported His claim?
Apply: What hope does the divinity of Christ give you concerning death? Why are both his humanity and divinity so crucial in validating your hope?
Share: Your friend says he is sure Jesus was a good man, but He was not God? What do you tell your friend?
“For Christ’s love compels us…..” 2 Corinthians 5:14 NIV
Around the world, some children get baptized and are given a celebration dinner with nice gifts.
Around the world, other children get baptized and get beaten by their parents and disowned by their family.
Around the world this month, some pastors will be given warm greeting cards, with beautiful gifts.
Around the world this month, other pastors will be persecuted and killed for sharing the Gospel.
It’s not a fair world, is it? One child being celebrated by her family when being baptized, and another child being disowned by her family when baptized. One pastor is lauded by his church family while another pastor is condemned by his church family while both are doing the same job. This is where we need to remember why we do what we do. Is it for gifts and rewards? Is it for praise and appreciation? Or does the love of Christ compel us to be baptized and share the gospel with the world? These words of Jesus are for anyone who follows Him. They are for free United States citizens as well as those in communist countries.
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. Luke 9:23 NKJV
I was baptized over 50 years ago, and since then have totally lost my baptism certificate. I think of this every time I baptize someone and given them their certificate. But Christ did not give his followers certificates. He did not give them a nice Hallmark card congratulating them for their decision. He did not give them a nice devotional book as a gift. He gave them a cross to go die on.
It is not the fear of punishment, or the hope of everlasting reward, that leads the disciples of Christ to follow Him. They behold the Saviour’s matchless love, revealed throughout His pilgrimage on earth, from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary’s cross, and the sight of Him attracts, it softens and subdues the soul. Love awakens in the heart of the beholders. They hear His voice, and they follow Him.-Ellen White, Desire of Ages, Page 480.
I have shared the story before how years ago I was at an awards banquet for literature evangelists, when I fist started canvassing. I was mesmerized by the plagues and trophies –I wanted one so bad. So I went and worked hard all year to earn my trophy, and by the ed of the year I had led my conference in sales. I was so disappointed when the conference canceled the awards ceremony that year! I became bitter. But a while after that I found myself in an old cemetery. As I walked around, reading the words on each gravestone, I felt the Holy Spirit asking me, “Why are you alive today, William?” After considering this question and all the suffering that is going on in the world, I realized I was not alive to win trophies and awards. I was alive to share the hope of the Gospel with a hurt and dying world. The words of an old hymn suddenly had new meaning,
Till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross,
Alone in that cemetery that day I understood, Jesus was not handing out plaques and trophies. He was not handing out gift cards and greeting cards. He handed me a cross to die on. In that cemetery I gained a clear vison of my calling. Trophies, plaques and gift cards can’t forgive sins or heal broken hearts. They can’t give hope to a dying world. I picked up my cross to follow Jesus.
Later I became a Bible Worker and served many years in three conferences, until one day a couple of years back I got a call from the Florida Conference to pastor a three-church district. Many of my friends and family celebrated this call. I greatly appreciated the encouragement. However I realized once again, I have been given a cross. My three congregations have been very wonderful to me. They encourage me when I do well, and they are graceful when I fail. Either way – no matter how I do – they love me because Jesus’ love is in their hearts. I realize not all pastors have loving congregations. While I am being loved even though I made a big mistake other pastors are being persecuted while doing exactly what was right.
This month is pastor appreciation month around the world. As a pastor who is loved unconditionally by God and my three churches, I encourage us all this month to be mindful of those who are serving under persecution. Let’s also remember those who serve as lay pastors while also working at a vocation to support themselves instead of being paid by the church. They work hard for their churches and do just as good a job as full time conference paid pastors. They make a sacrifice by working hard at a vocation and then also working hard for their church. Let’s also remember the children who are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus. There are children who have tasted persecution for their faith, like this pastor has never tasted. I have a comfy job as a pastor in the United States, while there are children who could preach sermons about their personal experiences with persecution that would put me to shame. And yes, please give what you can in ways of support to these worthy ministers. Since I am already spoiled, and have way more than I deserve, for pastor appreciation month instead of giving gifts to me, please send a donation to the Seventh-day Adventist Chinese Union Mission (You will probably want to click on or touch the “EN” at the top right corner. of the page to see the English-language site.) On the donation link there is a section called “other.” I have been told by a pastor near that area that you can write, “persecuted missionaries” in that section and they will get it to help those being persecuted.
I can’t speak for all pastors in the United States, but what I need more than anything is words of inspiration and to know that you are praying for me. As far as gift cards go, there are persecuted pastors around the world who need and deserve your monetary gifts much more than I do. Let’s make sure all the pastors, lay pastors, missionaries, and lay evangelists get the love and support they need this month and always.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School Lesson here.
Main Theme: This week we are looking at miracles as “signs” that Jesus is the Messiah?
Read in Class:John 2:1-11. Ask class to summarize this passage with the key points.
Study: What sign did Jesus do at Cana, and how did this help His disciples in coming to believe in Him?
Apply: What are your reasons for following Jesus? (We have been given many, haven’t we?)
Share: In John 2:5 Jesus’ mother tells the servants, ” “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Simple but yet profound words. Don’t worry about the consequences, just do whatever He tells you. Can you share with the class a time you did what Jesus told you to do simply because it was right, even though you were not sure what might happen to you later? How did it end for you?
Read in Class: John 4:46-54. Ask the class what is the main idea of this passage?
Study: Why does the evangelist make a connection back to the miracle at the wedding feast?
Apply: Even if we were to see a miracle, what other criteria must we look at before automatically assuming it is from God?
Share: Your friend asks you if you or anyone in your family has ever had a “miraculous” healing? What do you tell your friend?
Read in class:John 5:1-16. Ask the class to define the main idea of this passage.
Study: Because anyone by the pool obviously wanted to get well, why did Jesus ask the paralytic if he wanted to be healed? What lessons can we take away from the amazing hardness of the religious leaders’ hearts in regard to Jesus and the miracle He had just performed?
Apply: Jesus later encountered the man in the temple and said, “ ‘You have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you’ ” (John 5:14). What is the relationship between sickness and sin? Why must we understand that not all sickness is a direct result of specific sins in our life?
Share: Your friend tells you that it does not seem like Jesus respected the Sabbath commandment in this passage? What do you tell your friend? See Matthew 12:10-12.
Read in Class: John 5:38-47. Ask the class what the main point is of this passage.
Study: What was Jesus’ warning? What can we learn from these words? That is, what could be in us that blinds us to the truths we need to know and apply to our own lives?
Apply: What things did Moses teach that applied to Jesus being the Messiah?
Share: Your friend asks you, who in the Old Testament besides Moses prophesied about the Messiah, and how Jesus fulfilled those prophecies? What do you tell your friend? See The Messiah in Scripture.
Last week we were looking at how Jesus not only made and taught disciples, He was a disciple of the Father. Jesus gave us the perfect model for being a disciple. Last week we saw Jesus modeled being a disciple by reflecting the image of God, which we saw can only be done by community as God is community.
No wonder why Satan wants to divide and isolate us! Satan knows love is community and the image of God is reflected only through community. It is also by community that we grow into the image of God. In isolation we grow selfish and self-focused. In community we get on each other’s nerves and drive each other crazy sometimes as part of the growth process. During this process it is tempting to want to run away sometimes and be alone, and that may actually be a momentary solution, but not for the long haul. It may be the brother or sister who is rubbing you the wrong way who is actually polishingyour character for heaven.
Sometimes it is tempting to pray that the person annoying us would just go away, but consider this: Saul was a humble man when he became king, but later ego got in the way and destroyed him. When Saul became king no one gave him any trouble. Is that why he became proud and finally let his ego destroy him? I ask this, because when David is anointed king he has opposition from Saul, which kept David humble and may have ended up saving his soul. The person we think Satan sent as a curse may be the person God sent to keep us humble in order to save our soul for eternity.
When tempted to pray that those bothering us would just go away let’s keep in mind,
Joseph did not try to get rid of his brothers. His brothers tried to get rid of Joseph.
David did not try to get rid of Saul. Saul tried to get rid of David.
Mordecai did not try to get rid of Haman. Haman tried to get rid of Mordecai.
Jesus did not try to get rid of the pharisees. The Pharisees tried to get rid of Jesus.
In each case it is the unconverted person who is trying to get rid of the converted person, so keep that in mind whenever you are tempted to pray that God would get rid of someone. Discipleship is all about reflecting the character of God, and God is love and love is community. Love is also seeking to save the lost.
for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 NKJV
Jesus did not spend all his time with church people. He spend His time with some pretty rough sinners. He mentored them, ate with them and taught them to follow Him. I imagine if Jesus were here on earth today His cell phone contact list would be filled with names and numbers of unchurched people. Look at your cell phone contact list. How many unchurched people are on your list? This may give you an idea as to how well you are following the Model Disciple. How many unchurched people do you invite to your home? What is your attitude towards sinners in your church?
A while back I was teaching a new believers Sabbath School class, and a young man showed up who was obviously unchurched. In sharing with us his struggles he used a four letter word. Most all of my class were so tuned in to his feelings that they did not take special note of the four-letter word. One member later talked to me and encouraged me to let him know we don’t use that word here. Which do you find more concerning? A Sabbath school class with an unchurched man who accidentally lets one bad word slip, or a Sabbath school class where you never have to worry about hearing a foul word because that class would never dare allow an unchurched person to attend?
My point is that discipling the way Jesus discipled may not always be pretty. Being pretty is not the goal. Seeking and saving the lost is the goal. There are a lot of difficult unchurched people who are seeking for Jesus.
Often we regard as hopeless subjects the very ones whom Christ is drawing to Himself.-Ellen White, Christ Object Lessons, Page 72
There may be some apparently hopeless subjects in your community that the other churches in your area have spurned and turned away. Is your church ready to pray, “Jesus please send us all the hopeless outcasts the other churches in our community don’t want to deal with. Please send them to us Jesus and let our church love the people the other churches in our community refuse to love.”
Jesus told His disciples,
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV
This means way more than reaching out to our Catholic and Protestant brothers and sisters with the truth about the Sabbath. It means reaching out to a secular society cutting and drugging themselves. It means reaching out to them with the good news about the Savior. To follow our Model Disciple we must reach out to and disciple apparently hopeless people just like our Model Disciple, Jesus did.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School Lesson here.
Review in Class: Mark 16:1-8. Ask the class if they notice anything this time they did not notice the first time they read this?
Study: How did the women first respond to what happened?
Apply: Why must we not keep silent about Jesus and what He has done? Who can you tell today about Jesus and the plan of salvation?
Share: Your friend asks you why the angel singles Peter while mentioning the message to the disciples? What do you tell your friend? Your friend also mentiones the women being concerned about the stone, only to find it already rolled away when they got there. Your friend asks if you have ever worried about something in the future, only to find God had already taken care of it by the time you got there? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:Mark 16:9-20. Have the class sunmarraize this passage.
Study: What do these verses add to the Resurrection story?
Apply: How can we protect ourselves from falling into the spiritual trap of doubt and unbelief? Why must we daily link ourselves to the risen Christ?
Share: Your friend asks you if God has ever done anything in your life or in your family’s life that you did not believe was possible or you had trouble beleving at first? What do you tell your friend?
Review in Class: Mark 16:14-20. Ask the class if they notice anything this time they did not notice the first time they read this?
Study: What did Jesus say to His disciples when He appeared to them, and what do these words mean to us today?
Apply: Read Matthew 28:19-20. What words of comfort can and should we take from Jesus’ words?
Share: What specific good news from this week’s lesson will you be sharing with a friend this week?
As we near the end of studying the life of Christ in the book of Mark, we see how Jesus taught His disciples and told them to make disciples, but did it ever occur to us that Jesus was a disciple? Jesus was a disciple of His Father, and in Jesus’ public life and private life He modeled being a disciple. Peter and James and John were discipled by Jesus while He was here on earth. That is great, but since Jesus is not here on earth anymore, I learn more by how Jesus was a disciple of His Father, while He was here on earth, but His Father was up in heaven. After all, Jesus is up in heaven. So, I can’t follow the exact model of Peter, James and John, who were being discipled while Jesus was here on earth, but I can follow the model of Jesus as He was a disciple while His Father was in heaven. So let’s look at how Jesus modeled being a disciple.
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:9 NKJV
As a Disciple of the Father, Jesus showed us the image of His Father. There is a reason the second commandment tells us not to make graven images. God does not want His character reflected through things. He created us in His image so that we can reflect His character. The whole purpose of God’s last day Seventh-day Adventist Church is to do way more than just be a remnant of the New Testament church. The plan of Salvation and the great controversy go back even further. It;s God’s plan that the Seventh-day Adventist Church will hep restore the image of God in mankind, from every tribe, nation, tongue and people to how it was before the fall. Just as Jesus showed us the Father, we are to show Jesus to the world.
The story goes of a group of pastors in a Romanian prison years before it opened up to the Gospel. Of course they were talking about Jesus, and the guards got tire of it. Finally one guard said, “I will let you say one more sentence about your God, and then you not be allowed to speak of Him again.” One prisoner, knowing the guards would be watching him, came up with the best sentence he could. He told the guards, “Jesus is like me.” When I read this I could not believe a human would say such a thing. But the more I thought about it, I thought this is exactly what Christianity should be. We should not be calling ourselves Christians in vain. This is what the third commandment is all about. Disciples of Christ are to do more than believe in Christ. Notice Jesus never told His disciples to accept Him. He told them to pick up their cross and follow Him to death. As Jesus reflected the image of His Father, He modeled for us what we should be as disciples. We are to reflect the image of Jesus to the world.
All of the Gospels are excellent study material on how to be a disciple of Jesus, but Jesus gave some extra special instruction in the sermon on the mount on what being a disciple of Jesus is all about. In that sermon Jesus said,
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 NKJV
Notice Jesus did not tell His disciples to merely make sure the world sees what they believe. Rather He told them to make sure the world sees their good works so their Father in heaven would be glorified. Romans 2:4 tells us it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. A church with a last day message to the world needs to make sure the world sees the goodness of God that will lead them to repentance and salvation.
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Matthew 4:4 NKJV
When tempted Jesus used no special powers. He modeled for us how a disciple of God handles temptation. Every time Jesus was tempted or tried He referred to the Scriptures. The same Scriptures that Jesus used are available to us. Jesus showed us how to be a disciple just like He was a disciple of the Father.
And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. Matthew 14:23 NKJV
Before we can live like Jesus we need to pray like Jesus. Jesus modeled for us the balance we need between “the mountain and the multitude.” Jesus was the Model Disciple of the Father. Later in Matthew 14 Jesus walks on water, but so does Peter, until he takes his eyes off Jesus and looks at the waves. I wonder if Peter had continued praying like Jesus, if he would have been able to continue standing on the water like Jesus?
And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” Matthew 26:37-38 NKJV
Jesus asks His three closest friends to disciple with Him. He had to disciple in community. He could not disciple in isolation. Why? Remember, as disciples we are to reflect the image of God. In Genesis 1:26-27 God said, “Let us make man in our image.” And He made us male and female. What relevance does this have to us? First, God is speaking not as an isolated Being but as a community consisting of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is not an isolated Creature. He is community. When God created us to be in His image, He created us to be community. God is community so it is impossible for us to reflect His character of Community while in isolation. Jesus needed His three closest friends because He could not be the Model Disciple by Himself. The importance of this truth is seen by the fact that when His three closes friends fell asleep on Him, and angel had to come down from heaven to disciple with Him. See Luke 22:43. It was simply impossible for Jesus to disciple in isolation, and it is impossible for you to disciple in isolation as well. As isolated individuals we cannot reflect the character of a communal God. We also cannot reflect the character of God with just one gender. God created males and females to be in His image, One gender alone cannot reflect the image of God.
This reminds of a popular passage in the Adventist world,
Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.-Ellen White, Christ Object Lessons, Page 69,
Christ is not merely wanting His character reproduced in His church so that they can earn heaven by perfection. There is a great controversy going on regarding the character of God. Satan hs misrepresented God’s character and so many people are rejecting Him. Christ wants to perfectly reproduce His character or image in the church so the church can give God proper representation in the great controversy. Jesus wants the church to reflect the image and goodness of God so the world will know God is love. One isolated person cannot reflect the character of God. God is love. Love is community, together as a community of believers we show God’s love and mercy by being patient and understanding of each other’s faults and weaknesses. We strengthen one another where the other one is weak. As a church community we reflect the image of God. This is why Jesus had to model discipleship within a community of other disciples.
Next week we will see How Jesus modeled being a disciple, by mentoring the unchurched.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
Main Theme: In Mark 15 we see the plan of Salvation being perfectly carried out for you and me.
Read in Class:Mark 15:1-20. Have the class define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What kind of ironic situations occur here?
Apply: How hard is it to go against the crowd and majority opinion in any given situation? Is it hard to go against the flow?
Share: Your friend says, “Many of these people who were crying out “crucify Him” were ignorant and surely God will not judge them.” What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Mark 15:21-38. Have the class share the main idea from this passage.
Study: What painful ironies appear in these passages?
Apply: Would you sacrifice yourself for people who cursed you, spit on you, mocked you, maimed you, and beat you half to death? Why didn’t Jesus just say, ‘forget it, you don’t deserve my love and efforts.’?
Share: Your friend asks, “Why did Jesus have to die in our place in order for us to be saved? Did God just have to see someone suffer for our sin? Why couldn’t God just forgive wihtout a sacrifice?” What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:Mark 15:33-41. Have the class define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What are Jesus’ words on the cross in Mark? How do you understand why He said them?
Apply: How can we learn that regardless of what happens around us or to us, that we can trust God and know that He will prevail?
Share: You friend says he heard that Jesus died the second death for us? What does that mean and how do we know? What do you tell your friend? See The God-forsaken God.
Read in Class:Mark 15:42-47. Ask the class to share the main point of this passage.
Study: What was the importance of Joseph’s intervention, since all the disciples were nowhere to be seen?
Apply: How can we be sure that when in crucial times, we are not missing in action?
Share: Can you think of one friend who may benefit from hearing the plan of salvation this week? What can you do to share it with them?
In Light of The Cross 